Cybercrime

It is unclear as to the origins of the suspended e-commerce sites, presumably they were all/mostly based in the UK, unfortunatley this information is not given for analysis.

The press release states that the Metropolitan Police E-Crime Unit suspended more than 2,000 e-commerce website deemded to be selling fake or non-existent goods. The e-commerce websites were offering low price goods from manufacturers such as GHD, Ugg, Tiffany and Nike. The goods were either counterfeit or never arrived, some sites also harvested credit card, bank details and personal information given by customers.

It is also unclear as to if the sites were suspended, siezed (pending further investgation and prosecution) or shut down.

If many gangs registered sites in bulk, how many actual gangs or criminals are under investigation, facing possible prosecution ? Would more information be beneficial to help the consumer/potential victim be better prepared, other than advising the usual update AV.. dedicated credit card for e-shopping.. etc ? Would releasing more details hinder further or current investigation or help consumers to avoid similar ilegal sites ?

“.. Police officers worked with domain registrars to identify the rogue traders and then used Nominet’s powers to seize and shut down the offending domains .. the E-Crime Unit said many gangs registered sites in bulk solely to dupe customers. He said the campaign to close the criminal sites would continue in the run-up to Christmas .. consumers should check a website’s credentials to ensure it was approved and reputable .. also consider using a credit card for payments over £100 and perhaps reserve one card for online shopping ..”

“The E-Crime Unit took similar action in 2010 when it shut down about 1,800 sites.”

So happy shopping with the usual rules, ie. you don’t get something for nothing, and if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.